Purdue-Louisville historical odds and ends
Bob Mitchell
As we take a peek at Saturday's matchup, there are a number of themes from a historical perspective to ponder:
The Biggest Upset Ever?
For those expecting (or at least hoping) the Boilermakers will pull a big surprise on Saturday night in Indianapolis, it has been a long time since Purdue has won a game as this big of an underdog (26.5 points by Danny Sheridan).
Back on Nov. 6, 1976, the Boilermakers, a 29-point underdog at home, defeated No. 1 Michigan 16-14. It ruined legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler's best chance for a national title. And despite the victory, Boilermaker coach Alex Agase was fired three weeks later after losing to Indiana.
Two years earlier, Agase led Purdue to a 31-20 win at Notre Dame, when the Boilermakers were a 34-point 'dog. It is the biggest spread we can find that Purdue has ever overcome. Here are some other notable upsets (14 point or more spreads) dating back to 1970:
Upsets
Wayne Doebling
Playing in Indy
Purdue's biggest upset on an opening game ever? That would be on Sept. 8, 1984 with the above-mentioned upset of Notre Dame as the Dedication Game for the Hoosier Dome (before it was named the RCA Dome).
That game marked the first of the two games that Purdue has played in Indy in the Modern Era (since World War II). It also marked a contest where there was intrigue of who was going to be the Boilermaker quarterback just prior to kickoff. Junior Jim Everett took the reins, beating out redshirt freshman Doug Downing for the job, and went on to have such a productive two years as the Boilermaker quarterback that he was tabbed the third overall pick in the 1986 NFL Draft. The other Boilermaker appearance in Indy was Sept. 13, 2014, a 30-14 loss to the 14th-ranked Irish at Lucas Oil. Purdue faced Butler six times in the Circle City between 1887 (its first game in program history) and 1938. The Boilermakers were 3-3 in those contests against the Bulldogs.
The most infamous football event that took place in Indianapolis happened on Oct. 31, 1903 when a train transporting the Boilermakers and fans to a game to be played in the Capital City with Indiana crashed. The accident killed 17 people, including 14 players, and is one of the reasons that Black is one of Purdue's school colors.
Strange game with Louisville
Purdue and Louisville have only faced each other once, a 22-all tie in the home season opener for Purdue on Sept. 19, 1987. The contest also marked the debut of new coach Fred Akers in Ross-Ade Stadium, and like now, there was a great deal of optimism as Purdue had finally hired a big-name head coach. More than 63,000 fans saw the game that had both teams miss potential game-winning field goals in the last 1:50. Purdue's usually reliable kicker Jonathan Briggs, who had made a record 11 straight field goals a year earlier, missed three-of-four attempts, including a 47-yarder with 36 seconds left. Purdue held the Cardinals to negative-31 yards rushing but still couldn't get the win. After trailing 14-3 at the half, Purdue scored three quick touchdowns and appeared to be in control. But, it couldn't hold on.
Some other interesting ties in that contest were the fact that Danny Hope, who was a Boilermaker assistant from 1997-2001 and head coach from 2009-12, was on the sidelines as the Cardinals' line coach. Louisville's head coach in '87 was Howard Schnellenberger, who later recruited Jeff Brohm as his quarterback and has been an important mentor to Brohm.
Tidbits
Purdue will be facing the reigning Heisman Trophy winner for just the second time in its history. Back on Oct. 25, 1975 in Ross-Ade Stadium, the Boilermakers were up against '74 Heisman winner Archie Griffin. Purdue lost 35-6 to the top-ranked Buckeyes and Griffin broke the career NCAA rushing record in the game and ended up becoming the first (and still only) back-to-back Heisman winner a couple of months later.
Also another oddity that really isn't that big of an oddity will take place Saturday night in Louisville. Brohm will become the third of the last eight Boilermaker head coaches (dating back to 1973) to face off against his alma mater. The other two are Alex Agase, who squared up against his old school Illinois four times during his tenure from 1973-76, and Hope. Agase was an All-American while on loan (in essence) to Purdue in 1943, before transferring back to Illinois as World War II came to a close. Hope defeated his alma mater Eastern Kentucky 48-6 in 2012, Hope's last season on the Purdue sidelines. Jim Young, who coached Purdue from 1977-81, started out at Ohio State as a collegian as part of the '54 Buckeye national championship team, but later transferred and graduated from Bowling Green. Purdue never faced BG during Young's tenure, but did have a 1-2 record against OSU.
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